Memories exploded within Rosy’s heart and days of pain, hope, adventure, and wonder flooded her thoughts. All days before she had met Sonic, acquired her trademark leotard, and became a well-known adventurer herself. The humming of the Marvelous Queen underneath her as it raced freely across the open prairie with nothing in its way was nostalgic to the point of bringing her to tears. Tears of joy as she had not had a chance to speak with Fang since before her tarot cards had sent her to a destined meeting that changed her life forever. But none of it would have been possible had Fang not taken her from her home and introduced her to the world of real adventure in exchange for her fortunetelling and dowsing abilities leading him to treasure. Rosy was sure she always got the better part of that deal and sitting with her back against Fang’s she was sure of it anew.

     Despite everything people said about Fang, despite them trying to label her a trouble maker and calling her a rascal for traveling with him, Rosy could not help herself but love Fang and believe in the rough around the edges treasure hunter. In a way she believed he cared for her just as much, forever naïve, perhaps even willingly so to his twisted ways. It was why she could look at his tail coiled around her waist as protective and not that he was desperate not to let her go and risk losing countless future treasures.

     “Hee-hee,” Rosy giggled and covered her mouth, both to hide her amusement and to keep herself from stroking Fang’s tail and causing him to crash his air bike out of surprise. Instead she finally found the words to speak with, even with the Skyskipper long out of sight. “You know, I never realized how much I missed this. Ever since I met Sonic and he shared his speed with me I thought running to keep up with him was the most marvelous feeling in the world. But you know, for as much as I love Sonic, for as much as I want to run beside him forever and share in his life, I enjoy spending time with my friends so much too.”

     “You’re flattering me,” Fang smirked feeling like he really did finally have her back. Her bubbly talk about love and chasing her dreams was enough to make him gag, but it was a bargain for the riches he could acquire with her at his side. And that she always defended him no matter what, more than made it a bargain. It was a steal.

     Unfortunately, Rosy really was invested in her friends and Fang frowned as Rosy leaned more into his back and turned her head to watch the passing prairie. It passed by at much slower speeds than if she was running with Sonic, but she was fine with that as she needed time to think as her friends were all talking about running into danger rather than out into the amazing world full of endless adventure.

     “You know Fang, one of the things I love about you is how different you are from other boys. You never choose to fight if you can just run, but you aren’t afraid to talk people down if you have to either. Hee-hee! You actually remind me a lot about Mighty that way.”

     “I-is that so,” Fang stammered trying to keep the grimace out of his voice as he spoke. He could hardly take it as a compliment, as even though Rosy meant well she effectively called him a coward. And comparing him to her friends was an added insult to injury. “Maybe we could stick to not comparing me to the rest of your friends. Unlike me they have squeaky clean reputations that would get dirty just from being affiliated with me. Everyone still calls you a rascal too.”

     “I don’t mind,” Rosy smiled and closed her eyes as she nestled deeper into Fangs back. He grew stiffer at the threat presented by her spines, but Rosy took it as him providing her the support she really needed right now and relaxed even more. “Being a little rascal has brought me so much joy and I’ve seen so many places and met so many people. If I were always just a good little girl who did what everyone wanted I would have never had so many wonderful adventures and I’m sure so many more to come too.”

     “Heh, you know you’ve always got a place at my side. Together we’ll find more adventures than you can shake a stick at.”

     Breaking into howling laughter Fang finally earned a frown from Rosy and she felt she had to correct him. “You’re always welcome to come with me too Fang. I may have Sonic’s speed, but I’m not afraid to slow down if I have to for my friends. Always living at Sonic’s speed is wonderful, but it can be really lonely. He needs more friends who don’t have his speed so he can realize that the world isn’t always at his speed and if he ever has to stop, they’ll be there for him. Of course, I plan on mastering his speed one day and being at his side forever, so he never has to be alone at his speed ever again. We’re destined to be together if you didn’t know!”

     Giggling much to Fang’s disappointment that breaking her away from Sonic would be no easy task, Rosy opened her eyes and gasped in amazement. Fang nearly panicked not recognizing her sense of wonder. “W-what’s the matter! Don’t tell me we’re being followed!”

     “Huh? Don’t you see them Fang?” Rosy asked as she sat up and put strain on his tail. Bracing her hands on her knees she pushed herself up higher to get a better look and smiled in wonder. “The flowers Fang! The flowers are everywhere!”

     “Eh, I guess they are–ACHOO!” The massive sneeze cut Fang’s observations off and his air bike swerved wildly, filling the air with flower petals in its wake. Rosy giggled and laughed, delighted by the sight to the point of wanting to dance, only Fang’s tail wrapped tightly around her keeping her seated.

     “Hahahahaha~♥♪” Rosy’s laughter was like music as she took it all in, feeling the most joyous she had in some time. She loved Sonic with all her heart and would do anything for him, but with Sonic she found herself staying quiet and just enjoying the quiet moments with him. That she could enjoy the silence with him was special in itself, but she was most alive when she could express her joy and she yearned more than ever to break through Sonic’s emotional shell and win his heart. To show him the joy that he locked himself off from.

     Fang bringing his air bike to a sudden and violent stop shook Rosy from her yearning and she turned to face forward to see why he stopped. “What’s the matter Fang? Are you going to sneeze again?”

     “Hehe…,” Fang laughed nervously, a sweat drop highlighting the sense of passing terror he had just felt. “If I had sneezed now, we would have gone right over the edge.”

     “Over the edge?”

     Feeling more curious than ever, Rosy strained as best as she could to get a better look and Fang turned his air bike before he had to put up with her back spines digging into his back. The sight that unfolded before Rosy stole her breath away and she lost the strength to prop herself up. After a moment of wordless silence, she finally spoke. “It’s a Ring Shift…”

     Where once there had been endless prairie as far as the eye could see and as distant as Rosy could run, below a sheer cliff and rolling out into the distance a forest appeared. The golden shimmer of Rings filled the air and marked that until a moment ago the forest and cliff had not been there, but had been brought there, or perhaps to life, by the renewal of Ring Energy where for the longest time there had been almost none.

     “I don’t understand,” Rosy vocalized her confusion. “How? There hasn’t been anything but the prairie since we escaped from those nasty sky pirates here.”

     “You haven’t seen one at all since you’ve been here?” Fang asked surprised. He caught himself though and scrambled to provide an explanation that Rosy would not question. “Well maybe it’s because I worked with those sky pirates when I heard they might be wrapping you up in some trouble so I could get you to safety. But this kind of thing has been happening almost every time they tear up one of the ruins underneath the prairie. If it wasn’t for your two-tailed friend, they could have left anytime they wanted.”

     “We have to go back Fang!”

     “Eh?”

     It was not the response that Fang was expecting, but he started up his air bike and began riding along the edge of the cliff. He also made sure to dissuade her from trying to go back. “We may not be able to you know. A Ring Shift could have displaced us rather than brought something here.”

     “No,” Rosy disagreed, her eyes twinkling at the sight of the forest below. She could feel Fang’s tail tightening around her as she refuted his suggestion but believed it to be just him believing it was best to run due to the coming conflict between her friends and the Battle Kukku Armada. But she had hope and a feeling that she finally knew what she needed to know. “We have to go back Fang. I finally understand. The Rings have just been sleeping, and they’ve been asleep for so long that they forgot how they’re supposed to work. Or something like that. I think it’s more that they’re just still sleeping. After all, the Rings will always remember so they surely do. We just have to wake them up.”

     “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m sure it’s way too late to go back now.”

     “Hehehe, but it’s not Fang,” Rosy laughed and Fang looked over his shoulder nervously at her. Reaching under the cuff of her glove Rosy carefully worked with the device primarily used as a communicator. Offering the nervous a Fang a smile she cheerfully explained why it was not too late. “When we went to investigate a ruin my cards led us too, we got plenty of Rings so I can use my emergency Ring Gate again!”

     Fang had no time to even react as Rosy pressed a button and a Ring Gate swirled into life right where he was driving and swallowed them up. Things were about to grow very difficult for the treasure hunter.

Scene 11 · CLEARED

Joyride, End